Ivor Greenwood was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 15 November 1926. He was educated at Hartwell and Mont Albert State Schools before going to Scotch College in 1941. By 1945 Greenwood had entered the University of Melbourne to study law and became President of the University Liberal Club (1947) and the Students Representative Council (1949). He was subsequently an Associate to Sir Frank Kitto in the High Court (1950) and to the Chief Justice, Sir Owen Dixon (1950-1952). He was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1951.
 
Greenwood became active in the Liberal Party of Victoria in the 1950s, and was a member of its Executive (1952-66) and Vice-President (1966-68). In this period he continued to practice law and was Secretary to the Law Council of Australia (1963-68). He was made a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1969. In February 1968, when John Gorton resigned from the Senate to move to the House of Representatives, Greenwood was chosen to replace him as a Senator for Victoria.

In the Gorton Government, Greenwood served on Senate committees relating to Off-shore Petroleum Resources and Regulations and Ordinances (1968-71, Chairman from December 1969), Privileges (1968-75) and Senate Estimates (1970). In the McMahon Government he was Minister for Health (1971), then Attorney General (1971-72).

During the Whitlam Labor Government, Greenwood was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (1972-75), a member of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party Opposition Executive (1972-74) and the Shadow Ministry (1974-75). He was also a member of Parliamentary committees relating to Senate Estimates (1973-75), Standing Orders (1973-76) and the Corporations and Securities Industry Bill (1975). In 1973, Greenwood visited China and was a Commonwealth Parliamentary delegate to the Australian Constitutional Convention in Sydney.

In the Fraser 'Caretaker' Government, Greenwood was again Attorney General and Minister for Police and Customs (November-December 1975). He then became Minister for the Environment, Housing and Community Development and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. In May 1976, however, he became ill during a sitting of Parliament. The latter two appointments were relinquished in July and he died three months later. At that time, political colleagues paid tribute to Senator Greenwood's sustained commitment to causes or principles, belief in the rule of law, skill as a debater, sense of humour and zest for work. 


Sources:
Senate Hansard, No 19, 13 October 1976, pp 1139-1147
Who's Who in Australia 1971, p 411
Australian Parliamentary Handbook 1973, p 110; 1976 Supplement, p 77; 1978, p 218
Sydney Morning Herald, 8 May 1976, p 1
Australian Government Gazette, No S230, 12 November 1975, p 1; No S262, 22 December 1975, p 22 
J. Rydon, Biographical Register of the Commonwealth Parliament 1901-1972 (ANU Press 1975) p 94